High school roundup

AUBURN - Bay City Western watched a promising first half crumble into its second close loss this week, as the Warriors dropped a 49-43 decision to Saginaw Heritage in a nonleague matchup Friday night.

On Tuesday the Warriors dropped a 41-38 decision to Saginaw Nouvel after a fourth-quarter breakdown. Friday night, they stumbled in the third.

"We just had a very out-of-focus third quarter. We were not ready to play. We kind of went through the motions and just lost the intensity," Western coach Tim Walker said.

The Warriors took a 21-18 lead into the locker room at halftime but were outscored 17-4 in the third.

"We self-destructed. I don't have an answer to it other than lack of intensity," Walker said. "Hopefully, we'll learn from it."

Lance Wilson led all scorers with 18 points for the Hawks.

Western's Dominic Decarlo had 16 points and three blocks, while Scott Schmidt made three steals.

The Warriors (3-7) travel to Bay City Central on Tuesday.

Heritage won the junior varsity contest, 53-33.

FREELAND - Frankenmuth started fast and held on for the 60-58 win over host Freeland Friday in nonconference basketball action.

"They came right out of the blocks and got ahead early," Freeland coach Dave Franz said. "It was a very physical game. They have a lot of big kids who are good athletes."

The Eagles jumped ahead early and led 17-10 after one quarter. Freeland clawed back within three at halftime and took the lead midway through the third quarter. Trailing by 58-55 with under a minute to play, the Falcons' Chris Lesher made a 3-pointer to tie the game but Freeland, out of time-outs had to foul and Frankenmuth made both free-throws.

"We came out in the third and played a solid quarter of basketball," Franz said. "I feel good about the way we hustled but one thing we know we need to improve on is our free-throw shooting. It's been our Achilles heel."

Ryan Tijerina led the Falcons with 23 points in the loss. D.C. Sampson added 13 and Sean Connon eight.

MERRILL - Merrill recorded its first win of the season Friday night as Robert Kennedy scored 25 points in the Vandals' 52-45 victory over Essexville Garber in a Tri-Valley Conference crossover basketball game.

The Vandals (1-10) outscored Garber 23-13 in the first half, and maintained that lead through the third quarter.

Kennedy, a sophomore, only scored eight points in the first half before exploding in the fourth quarter.

"He got real aggressive and went to the free throw line 10 times, and he made nine of them," Merrill coach Jason Buckley said.

Brenden Welsh also contributed a season-high 16 points.

"He had a really great game," Buckley said. "That's more than he's scored all year."

Buckley said the crossover matchup energized his players.

"We knew we could play with them," he said. "We kept the intensity up all night, and that's something we've really struggled to do this whole season."

Dustin Valliere contributed seven points and 15 rebounds for Merrill, and Kennedy also had six boards.

The Dukes had three players score in double digits. Brett Boone had 12 points, and Preston Oaks and David Sevilla each scored 10.

BRECKENRIDGE - Breckenridge fell 50-43 to St. Louis Friday night after freezing up with three minutes to go in Central State Activities Association basketball action.

St. Louis took an early 15-10 first quarter lead and was still ahead 26-21 at halftime. By the end of the third quarter the Huskies had shrunk the lead to 38-36.

Jolliff said that most of the game was close.

"It was great, back-and-forth all night. We were neck and neck up until the fourth quarter," he said. "It was a fun game to watch and coach."

Craig Rogers scored 20 points for St. Louis.

Breckenridge spread the scoring around, something it's struggled to do all season, Jolliff said. Bart Stoneman led the team with nine points, while Tyler Morrow scored eight. Morrow also had 10 rebounds, three assists and two steals.

SANFORD - Dan Numbers scored all 10 of his points in the third quarter to give Meridian the horsepower needed to beat Clare 57-42 Friday night in Jack Pine Conference basketball.

The Mustangs led 25-18 at halftime before Numbers' performance boosted the lead to 39-30.

"It was still a close game at halftime, then Numbers scored 10 points in the third. That opened it up, and we just kind of kept up the lead in the fourth quarter," Meridian coach Mitch Bohn said.

Mike Van Nortwick led Meridian with 12 points, seven rebounds and six steals. Trevor Merryman had 11 points and six rebounds, and Numbers also made four steals and three assists.

Adam Wojda scored 21 points for Clare.

The Mustangs (6-5, 5-3 JPC) host Freeland on Tuesday.

Clare won the junior varsity game 47-38.

Birch Run's Corey King tipped in a missed 3-point attempt with 1.8 seconds to play in overtime in the Panthers' 73-71 win over host Bullock Creek Friday in Tri-Valley Conference crossover basketball.

"The kids played hard," Bullock Creek coach Jim Parker said of his team. "They showed they didn't want to lose."

The Lancers led 56-50 with four minutes to play in regulation, but Birch Run fought back to tie the game 59-59 in the final seconds. Bullock Creek missed a last-second shot, sending the game to overtime.

In the extra period, the Lancers came down with the tip-off but missed a shot, giving the ball back to the Panthers. From that point on, the teams traded baskets on almost every possession.

Trailing 71-69 in the final minute, the Lancers' Nick Violette came up with a steal and scored on a lay-up to tie the game, setting the stage for King's game-winner.

"It's a testament to (our) kids and their kids too," Parker said. "They're a very good team. This was a very exciting game."

After the first period, Bullock Creek trailed 20-11, but came back in the second to get within three points by halftime, 32-29.

Brett Burch led the Lancers with 26 points and also had eight assists. Josh Peterson scored 12 points and Adam Rider 10. Violette led the team with seven rebounds and also had eight assists. Peterson, Violette and Trevor Johnson all had three steals.

Chad Allen led four Birch Run players in double figures, scoring 21 points.

The Comets saw 11 different players score, including Josh Lashuay with 11 points. David Lewis led the team with 10 rebounds while Lawrence added seven. Ryan Ward finished with four steals and four assists. Mike Baker made five steals and Will Rapin came down with five rebounds.

Coleman built a 16-4 lead in the first quarter and led at halftime 34-6.

Coleman is 2-8 overall and 1-2 MSAC. The Comets travel to Pinconning Tuesday.